This entry is part 1 of 9 in the series Trinidad and Tobago Carnival This post was originally published on January 24, 2007. It has been updated three times since then. With only a few days it is high time that I shine a spotlight on Trinidad’s largest cultural festival, Carnival. Indeed, I even got a little ‘bouff’ today via email for failing to cover it yet! In my defense this... 

This entry is part 2 of 9 in the series Trinidad and Tobago Carnival This post was originally published on February 14, 2007. It has been updated twice since then. It is hard to imagine Carnival without music. And the definitive music of Trinidad and Tobago Carnival is soca. So what is Soca Music? Well, why not let Soca Superstar Machel Montano say it in his own words? From Caribbean Music 101... 

This entry is part 3 of 9 in the series Trinidad and Tobago Carnival Exodus Steelband performing in Trafalgar Square, England – photo by bram_souffreau It seems that every time a North American program wants to denote the ‘tropics’ you will hear the sound of a steelpan. It doesn’t even to seem to matter if the ‘tropics’ are in the Caribbean on a cruise ship or... 

This entry is part 4 of 9 in the series Trinidad and Tobago Carnival Image from the Trinidad Guardian If you are getting the sense that Carnival is one big long party you are right! So it only makes sense that one big long party would be made of many many big long parties as well. These parties in Trinidad are called fetes and are attended by hundreds sometimes thousands. Fetes feature the biggest... 

This entry is part 5 of 9 in the series Trinidad and Tobago Carnival This post was originally published on February 6, 2007. It has been updated twice since then. Dimanche Gras takes place on the Sunday night before Ash Wednesday. Here the Calypso Monarch is chosen (after competition) and prize money and a vehicle bestowed. Also the King and Queen of the bands are crowned, where each band to parade... 

This entry is part 6 of 9 in the series Trinidad and Tobago Carnival This post was originally published on February 14, 2007. It has been updated twice since then. J’ouvert (joo-VAY) is the start to the Carnival celebrations. It begins in the pre-dawn hours of Carnival Monday and lasts until daybreak. J’ouvert (which is a Creole corruption of the French Jour Ouvert – day opening)... 

This entry is part 7 of 9 in the series Trinidad and Tobago CarnivalNo Carnival writeup would be complete, especially this year without mention of the ever-popular yet ever-controversial Machel Montano. From an earlier incarnation of his MySpace page: Machel Montano began his career in 1982 at age seven. As early as 1984, he formed his band Panasonic Express now called XTATIK. Machels debut album... 

This entry is part 8 of 9 in the series Trinidad and Tobago Carnival This post was originally published on February 3, 2007. It has been updated twice since then. I was talking to a Brazilian friend a few years ago and she was surprised at some of the differences between our Carnival and theirs. You see it was a few weeks ago when she decided to look and see what costume/band she should play with.... 

This entry is part 9 of 9 in the series Trinidad and Tobago CarnivalAfter the frenzied crescendo of Carnival Tuesday all merriment and debauchery ends (or is supposed to end) with the ushering in of Ash Wednesday and the start of the Roman Catholic observance of Lent. My father tells me that ‘back in the day’ all sound stopped at midnight and no calypso would play on the radio with the...